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NCAAB Picks

NCAA Basketball Picks Of The Day: Wednesday's Top ATS Selections

Looking for a potential giant-killer in the NCAA Tournament? Consider Stony Brook, which opens America East Tournament quarterfinal action at home Wednesday. Here are my top three picks for the night on Heritage's NCAA Basketball odds.

UMBC vs. Stony Brook (-22)
Stony Brook (23-6) won the America East regular-season title by a game over another good mid-major program in Albany. But might the top-seeded Seawolves be on upset alert here in the tournament quarterfinals? Probably not, but they did lose two of their final three games, including the regular-season finale at home against streaking Vermont on Saturday. For a third straight season, Stony Brook's Jameel Warney was named the conference player of the year. He's just the third player in league history to win it three times (one other was former Boston Celtic Reggie Lewis). Warney averaged a double-double this season at 18.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. Warney also was named America East Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season. He's among the nation leaders in blocks. Warney is the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds, blocks and games played. Maryland-Baltimore County (7-24) finished last in the conference. The Retrievers are led by second-team all-America East pick Jairus Lyles, who averages a conference-best 23.0 points per game. Stony Brook has won 16 straight games over UMBC. This season, the Seawolves won 86-74 at home and 75-52 at UMBC. Stony Brook's last loss in the series was in the 2008 America East quarterfinals

Saint Joseph's vs. St. Bonaventure (+4)
Saint Joseph's is comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field at 24-5 overall, and the Hawks are 13-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and tied with VCU for first place. VCU does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Saint Joseph's closes the regular season with what should be a home win over Duquesne. VCU hosts Davidson on Wednesday and then has a very tough game at Dayton. So if Saint Joseph's can win here, it's in good shape potentially for the top seed in the conference tournament. The Hawks are a great road team, losing just one true away game this season: at Davidson on Feb. 20. The 24-5 mark is the Hawks’ best record through 29 games since the 2003-04 team was 28-1. And the school's next win will be No. 400 career there for Coach Phil Martelli. He would become only the sixth active coach to achieve the mark at one school. St. Bonaventure (20-7, 12-4) is tied with Dayton a game out of first place in the conference. The Bonnies really need this win as they are right on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Currently, they are projected among the first four times out of the field of 68. This is the team's home finale. On Saturday, the Bonnies rallied from an 18-point deficit to edge UMass 85-83. The 12 Atlantic 10 wins are a school record. St. Bonaventure won at Saint Joseph's 83-73 on Feb. 3. Jaylen Adams scored a career-high 31 points in the win.

St. Bonaventure, which has won four straight in the series. The Bonnies have covered 17 of their past 23 at home vs. teams with a winning road record. The Hawks are 0-4 ATS in the past four meetings.

No. 9 Oregon vs. UCLA (+2)
Oregon has achieved its highest ranking ever under Coach Dana Altman. The Ducks (23-6, 12-4) lead the Pac-12 Conference by a half-game over Utah (one game in loss column) and a game over California. Oregon can clinch a share of the conference title for the first time since 2002 with a win in this game. UO wins the outright title with a win here and Saturday at USC or a with a split of those two if Cal and Utah each lose a game. The Ducks are unbeaten at home this season but have lost their past two Pac-12 road games. They enter this on a three-game winning streak by an average of 12.3 points. UCLA (15-14, 6-10) is ahead of only Arizona State and Washington State in the conference standings. There's talk the school could fire Coach Steve Alford. The Bruins enter off losses at California and Stanford last week, both by double-digits. This is only the fourth time since 1948 that UCLA will finish with a losing conference record. Last year's team reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA lost at Oregon 86-72 on Jan. 23. But the Bruins have won three of the past five meetings overall.

Back UCLA +2 with your NCAA Basketball Picks. Oregon is 1-4 ATS in its past five games. UCLA is 4-1 ATS in its past five after a loss. The home team is 4-0 ATS in the past four meetings.